Do people REALLY watch that much TV?

[Jenny in GA]

I've been reading an interesting book (and an easy, short read) called Living Outside the Box:TV-Free Families Share Their Secrets.

 

It reminded me of something I've wondered for a long time:

 

I've read many times that the "average American" watches 4 hours of TV a day. (I've even heard some statistics that are even higher.) I've heard this for years and years, and I've never heard those statistics refuted. I've also heard similar amount of hours (or higher) about the average child's TV-watching habits.

 

But what I'm wondering is, Who in the world are those people??

 

Everyone I ever talk to or hear about has their kids in school all day, then the kids do an hour or more of homework, and most of them are in scouts and/or sports. Many of them have kids on traveling teams. It sounds like most kids I know aren't even home for four hours a day, let alone watching TV for that long!

 

And most adults I know are working (FT or otherwise), very active in their church and/or other organizations, taking their kids to all these events, etc.

 

Everyone is more busy than I am! Who are all these people sitting in front of the TV for hours and hours??

 

So are these statistics inaccurate or slanted?

Or is there some segment of the population somewhere that I never meet, talk to, or hear about, that are watching huge amounts of TV?

Or are people (including kids) up til 2 am getting in their 4+ hours of TV-watching per day?

[zookeeper]

I think they're probably correct. I can't imagine spending that much time watching TV, but there are TVs everywhere anymore! In cars, restaurants, dr offices, etc. I almost hate eating out anymore because of the TVs.

[Dmmetler]

I know my (now deceased) grandfather seemed to always have the TV on. I think he just plain liked having the sounds of other people around during the day. So maybe older adults and other mostly homebound individuals skew the total?

[amo_mea_filiis.]

4 hours is, very unfortunately easy to hit.

 

If my ds gets up before me, I allow him to watch Netflix so he doesn't get into trouble before I get up. I get up between 5-6am without an alarm, so it's very early. When I get up I let him finish the show he's watching, then it's off for a while. He likely had close to an hour because shows run about 25-30 minutes.

 

If they've been bouncing off the walls and we've done park time, bike riding, or other physical activities, I'll turn it on again for lunch.

 

And because I need ds to eat as much as possible, I put it on during dinner to try and distract him. I know, not a good idea, and very unhealthy for dd and I, but he *has* to start eating.

 

I love House. It's the one show I always watch. There's an hour. Maybe before House is a new episode of Criminal Minds, and while I don't watch it regularly or record it, I'll watch it if I come across it which is another hour.

 

Add in a good behavior movie night, and that's 6 hours of TV!

 

Wow, I think I'm going to read that book you linked....!

[amo_mea_filiis.]

Thinking of some other families I know; if the kids get home from school at 3-4, they have the TV on until everyone goes to bed at 9-10. That's 5-8 hours right there. Not everyone has out of school activities.

[Bang!Zoom!]

I raised my oldest daughter TV free. My youngest is at the other end of the scale...way too much media.

 

Having lived at both extremes, I'd vote absolutely that the statistics are right for developed nations.

 

I'm not so sure though, that if the total global population were considered that the statistic would remain valid.

 

There are so many more in this world "without" TV than "with".

[Daisy]

A lot of my friends are into all the stuff you mentioned also. BUT their kids do nothing BUT watch tv all summer long. They watch tv in the car going to and from events. They watch tv in the mornings before school. They watch tv before bed (some as late as 10pm). They watch tv Saturday and Sunday afternoon or evenings. So while it may or may not work out to 4 hours each day, I'm betting that is a low average over the course of a year.

[YLVD]

I've been reading an interesting book (and an easy, short read) called Living Outside the Box:TV-Free Families Share Their Secrets.

 

It reminded me of something I've wondered for a long time:

 

I've read many times that the "average American" watches 4 hours of TV a day. (I've even heard some statistics that are even higher.) I've heard this for years and years, and I've never heard those statistics refuted. I've also heard similar amount of hours (or higher) about the average child's TV-watching habits.

 

But what I'm wondering is, Who in the world are those people??

 

Everyone I ever talk to or hear about has their kids in school all day, then the kids do an hour or more of homework, and most of them are in scouts and/or sports. Many of them have kids on traveling teams. It sounds like most kids I know aren't even home for four hours a day, let alone watching TV for that long!

 

And most adults I know are working (FT or otherwise), very active in their church and/or other organizations, taking their kids to all these events, etc.

 

Everyone is more busy than I am! Who are all these people sitting in front of the TV for hours and hours??

 

So are these statistics inaccurate or slanted?

Or is there some segment of the population somewhere that I never meet, talk to, or hear about, that are watching huge amounts of TV?

Or are people (including kids) up til 2 am getting in their 4+ hours of TV-watching per day?

 

I rarely watch any. I sometimes have it on when I'm working (from home).

 

My DD watches no TV, none. That wasn't really on purpose. But, we do only have one television and it's in the living room. There are three of us. It makes us aware of having to share.

 

She watches movies on Netflix on her computer or DVDs on a television she has in her room that doesn't have cable and doesn't get channels. She didn't even want cable in her room.

[Joker]

I've always wondered how accurate the numbers are as well. Even when we have the tv on not everyone is watching it the whole time. Dds usually end up drawing or playing instead of watching.

[Jayne J]

Don't forget the tv they watch at school and the tv they watch on the bus on their computers/phones. The tv they watch in their rooms at night before they go to sleep and the tv all weekend long.

[Joker]

I rarely watch any. I sometimes have it on when I'm working (from home).

 

My DD watches no TV, none. That wasn't really on purpose. But, we do only have one television and it's in the living room. There are three of us. It makes us aware of having to share.

 

She watches movies on Netflix on her computer or DVDs on a television she has in her room that doesn't have cable and doesn't get channels. She didn't even want cable in her room.

 

Wouldn't this still be considered tv/screen time in the calculations, though?

[twoforjoy]

I always wonder if watching means "sat there doing nothing but watching TV" or "had the TV on during that time."

 

DH and I both grew up in homes where the TV was on all the time (both our parents grew up in homes where the radio was on all the time, and I think the TV just took the place of that for them). It drives me kind of insane, so I don't do it. But, I didn't watch that many hours of TV a day as a kid; I'd say maybe 1-2 hours a day, at most, would be spent actually sitting in front of the TV really paying attention to something. But the TV was always on. So I might have been in a room with the TV on for 6-8 hours a day, but I wasn't watching it for most of that time; I'd be playing or reading or talking to somebody or doing something else.

 

My DS has had Mythbusters on for a while today. But he's been doing lots of other things while it's on, and hasn't been paying attention for most of it. Right now he's got it on but is making superhero costumes for himself and DD.

[Coffeemama]

There are many homes that I visit that almost always have the tv on. My own parents home is one of them. They are both retired, they go out for a bit every day, and read a novel or two a week, but if they aren't both reading, the tv is on...pretty sad. I turn it off as soon as we get there, b/c it's usually just a cooking show or DIY type of thing serving as backround noise. My in-laws house is the same way and when the kids come home from sleepovers at MIL, she always tells me about the "educational" shows they watched...some are, but still...

[twoforjoy]

My own parents home is one of them. They are both retired, they go out for a bit every day, and read a novel or two a week, but if they aren't both reading, the tv is on...pretty sad.

 

Why sad? I mean that honestly. My parents and ILs also both always have the TV on (my parents will even have it on in the background when they are both reading). I find it irritating because I'm a person who likes quiet, but not sad. It's not like they're watching TV all day, or even much of the day; it's just on as they do other things. They just like the background noise, I think, and are used to it. They grew up, as I mentioned above, in homes where the radio was always on (and both sets of my grandparents went from having the radio on all the time to having the TV on all the time once they got TVs). It's what they're used to. I think the quiet in my house drives them crazy, because they're always turning on the TV when they come over, even if there's nothing on that anybody is watching.

[Diana B]

I think its the average amount of time watched, right?

 

So you've got some people on one end of the scale that watch none, or next to none.

 

Then you've got people on the other end that the kids come home from school, turn on TV and watch it until bed - even while eating and/or doing homework. These same kids get up at 7am Saturday morning and will watch TV until noon or later - depending on when/if their parents kick them outside.

 

It equals out to about 4 hrs a day. There are many many kids that are latchkey kids - they don't do afterschool activities, their parents are still working. They keep themselves busy by watching TV. We have a tendency to look at our friends, community, etc when thinking about these statistics. But we have to remember that our little community of friends is not really the 'average' across the nation.

 

It's like the 1 in 6 or 1 in 4 or whatever of kids that go to bed hungry at night. You can't very well look around at all the kids you know and pick out 1 in 6 of them that are going to bed hungry. Chances are there are very few - if any - of the kids you know going to bed hungry. But if you go into certain areas, you've got 100% of those kids facing that every night.

 

It's all about averages.

 

(Oh, and if we are talking about average Americans - you have to take in all the retired folks. They watch a lot of TV too!)

[Dustybug]

My DH is one of those that MUST have the television on at all times. Drives me batty. He will even fall asleep in the recliner and WAKE UP if I turn it off and he has to have it on to fall asleep at night. :001_huh: He does watch a lot, but he mostly just has it on for the noise. While he is at work, we hardly turn it on.

[OH_Homeschooler]

Why sad? I mean that honestly.

 

I wondered the same thing. It sounds like Coffeemama's parents are living stimulating lives, getting out every day and reading a lot. And having cooking shows or DIY on is better than say, QVC (in my opinion), which I have seen a lot of older folks have on and watch mindlessly (or worse, they order everything they see, which is REALLY sad).

[TheAutumnOak]

I've been reading an interesting book (and an easy, short read) called Living Outside the Box:TV-Free Families Share Their Secrets.

 

It reminded me of something I've wondered for a long time:

 

I've read many times that the "average American" watches 4 hours of TV a day. (I've even heard some statistics that are even higher.) I've heard this for years and years, and I've never heard those statistics refuted. I've also heard similar amount of hours (or higher) about the average child's TV-watching habits.

 

But what I'm wondering is, Who in the world are those people??

 

Everyone I ever talk to or hear about has their kids in school all day, then the kids do an hour or more of homework, and most of them are in scouts and/or sports. Many of them have kids on traveling teams. It sounds like most kids I know aren't even home for four hours a day, let alone watching TV for that long!

 

And most adults I know are working (FT or otherwise), very active in their church and/or other organizations, taking their kids to all these events, etc.

 

Everyone is more busy than I am! Who are all these people sitting in front of the TV for hours and hours??

 

So are these statistics inaccurate or slanted?

Or is there some segment of the population somewhere that I never meet, talk to, or hear about, that are watching huge amounts of TV?

Or are people (including kids) up til 2 am getting in their 4+ hours of TV-watching per day?

 

I don't have television, cable, or anything like that in my house or car, and there are no TVs at the Whole Foods, so I watch 0 hours a day or a week...But I know PLENTY of people who watch at least 4 hours of TV a day...I know kids who go to school and still manage to watch at least 4 hours of TV a day...I know adults who work FT and still manage to watch at least four hours a day...It is crazy to me, but I definitely see it happening...

[5kidsforME]

My DD watches no TV, none.

 

She watches movies on Netflix on her computer or DVDs on a television she has in her room that doesn't have cable and doesn't get channels. She didn't even want cable in her room.

 

:confused: Then yes, she does in fact watch TV.

[8circles]

I watch a lot of TV. When DH is working late & I'm trying to catch-up on housework at night. It's not hard to do, unfortunately.

[Coffeemama]

Why sad? I mean that honestly. My parents and ILs also both always have the TV on (my parents will even have it on in the background when they are both reading). I find it irritating because I'm a person who likes quiet, but not sad. It's not like they're watching TV all day, or even much of the day; it's just on as they do other things. They just like the background noise, I think, and are used to it. They grew up, as I mentioned above, in homes where the radio was always on (and both sets of my grandparents went from having the radio on all the time to having the TV on all the time once they got TVs). It's what they're used to. I think the quiet in my house drives them crazy, because they're always turning on the TV when they come over, even if there's nothing on that anybody is watching.

 

You're right. I probably shouldn't say sad because they don't have sad lives....it just makes me sad/bothers me when the tv is constantly on. We are not anti tv. We own two...one in the basement family room that is used a few times a week for a show and two or three times a week to play Wii. The other tv is in my bedroom. I like to watch the news in the morning. I do get comments when people visit about not having a tv on the main floor...i just say that i like the peace and quiet and that is fine for most...

[RahRah]

I always wonder if watching means "sat there doing nothing but watching TV" or "had the TV on during that time."

 

DH and I both grew up in homes where the TV was on all the time (both our parents grew up in homes where the radio was on all the time, and I think the TV just took the place of that for them). It drives me kind of insane, so I don't do it. But, I didn't watch that many hours of TV a day as a kid; I'd say maybe 1-2 hours a day, at most, would be spent actually sitting in front of the TV really paying attention to something. But the TV was always on. So I might have been in a room with the TV on for 6-8 hours a day, but I wasn't watching it for most of that time; I'd be playing or reading or talking to somebody or doing something else.

 

My DS has had Mythbusters on for a while today. But he's been doing lots of other things while it's on, and hasn't been paying attention for most of it. Right now he's got it on but is making superhero costumes for himself and DD.

 

:iagree:

 

I too often wonder if the statistics are based on the television merely being on - whether anyone is actually planted on the sofa watching or not?

 

In our house the TV tends to be on a lot more than I'd like, but no one ever seems to be actually watching - it's background noise more than anything else....well, other than DH watching the news after dinner - that he puts his nose in and watches.

 

Like right now - the TV is on (Olivia) and DS is playing with his AAS tiles on the white board, back turned to the TV, humming to himself while he does things with the tiles (voluntarily I'll add - his lesson was over long ago, he's just having fun now). But, would that count in the statistics?

[YLVD]

Wouldn't this still be considered tv/screen time in the calculations, though?

 

I suppose so. She maybe watches one program a week on Netflix. I can see what she's watching.

[YLVD]

:confused: Then yes, she does in fact watch TV.

 

The question was about TV, so I answered the question.

 

She watches one program a week on Netflix, approximately. She will rewatch another one of her movies once a week. That's it. Either way, it's very little screen time. She's never liked standard television.

[Stages]

Most of the statistics I've seen count the amount of time the tv is on and someone is in the room, not necessarily actively watching. By their methods, I watched 3 episodes of Go Diego Go this morning while I was sleeping.

 

We limit tv pretty harshly while DD is awake (except in the mornings - she gets up way too early), but we still end up with 4 or 5 hours a day. Total screen time is much higher considering the totals usually double up - for example - if you have the tv on for an hour while you use your computer, it would count as 2 hours of screen time.

Edited July 14, 2011 by Stages

[Karen in CO]

My neighbors have their tv on from the time the kids get home from school until late into the night.

 

My neice turns on the tv when she gets up and watches until she leaves for school. She turns it on when she comes in the door. My sister watches from the time she comes home from work until she goes to bed. They even eat dinner in front of the tv.

 

Many of the kids my kids know discuss tv shows we've never heard of. They do sports, go to school, and are active, but they watch tv in all of their spare time. They schedule their days around shows.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Don't forget the tv they watch at school

 

This drives me batty. My fd *very* regularly says, "I saw that at my school." She is talking about movies! She saw Tangled at school before I could even rent it for us to watch as a family :(

 

It saddens me greatly that I have to send her to school when she is so incredibly ready to learn and could do so much neat stuff here at home rather than watching tv.

 

My kids watch about an hour most days (though for some reason, we're watching How It's Made today). They watch Dino Dan at 4pm and MAY get in another show. My hubby does let them watch too much on weekends if I'm running around. However, they also probably get much more outside time (even though it's over 100 degrees out). They are out 3-5 hours per day, sometimes more.

[angela in ohio]

At least three quarters of the families I know (homeschoolers, family, friends) have the TV on at all times when they are awake. And most kiddos I know have TVs in their rooms that they keep on at all hours. People get home from work at 5 and watch TV until 10 or 11. Then they spend their weekends watching sports, movies, etc. (yes, TV watching counts movies :D, as it is still shown on a television set.) Many people don't work, so they can pump that average up, too. There are large neighborhoods full of children in the city who don't have any outside activities and little parental supervision (no one telling them to do homework, either); they have unlimited access to cable TV, though.

 

I think an average of four hours sounds low, honestly.

[EthiopianFood]

I'm one of those losers. I honestly can't imagine not having the tv on in the evening regularly. I've read that people read or play games in the evening, but how can you do that for 4+ hours, if you don't go out on that particular night? I WANT to be like that, but it seems like it would get old after awhile (never mind how dh would go NUTS with his ADHD :tongue_smilie:).

 

I do feel like tv is almost always a complete and utter waste of life, barring a couple favorite shows a week.

[Crimson Wife]

My in-laws have the TV on from the moment someone gets up until the moment the last person goes to bed. It drives me bonkers whenever we visit them!

[angela in ohio]

I'm one of those losers. I honestly can't imagine not having the tv on in the evening regularly. I've read that people read or play games in the evening, but how can you do that for 4+ hours, if you don't go out on that particular night? I WANT to be like that, but it seems like it would get old after awhile (never mind how dh would go NUTS with his ADHD :tongue_smilie:).

 

I do feel like tv is almost always a complete and utter waste of life, barring a couple favorite shows a week.

 

Dh and I watched more TV when our dc were younger (after they went to bed.) As they got older, it was easier to find ways to fill up the time. :001_smile:

[stripe]

I know people who keep the tv on all day. I also know someone who watches from 5 to 8 pm at least, every day, but constantly comments how she doesn't watch much tv. Some people watch before work, too, and before bed, so even if they are busy, they can still watch at those times. Plus meals.

[twoforjoy]

My in-laws have the TV on from the moment someone gets up until the moment the last person goes to bed. It drives me bonkers whenever we visit them!

 

Most of the older people I know tend to leave the TV on as background noise when they're home, whether they're watching or not. And, since most of them are retired, that can add up to a lot of hours a day. If they're counting as "screen time" time when a TV is on and somebody is in the room, as mentioned by someone above, I would imagine households like that would really bump up the totals.

 

My MIL, for example, will have one of the news networks on all day. She spends most of her time doing other things--reading, chores, cooking, gardening, etc.--but she's always got the news on and will pay attention if something strikes her as interesting. So she probably is in a room with the TV on for 10+ hours a day, but she doesn't watch nearly that much.

[Tutor]

When we had broadcast/ cable TV, we easily actively watched 4 hours a day. This is why we do not have it anymore. :D It was also often on for background noise... NPR, Dave Ramsey, and music have now taken over that role.

[DawnM]

I probably have it on that much. As for sitting and actually watching that much, not really, but it is background in the evening and I watch the news while I make dinner.

 

Dawn

[Jenny in Florida]

I think an average of four hours sounds low, honestly.

 

I was thinking that, too.

 

I think of myself as watching relatively little television, but I might make that four-hours-per-day average if I added up a whole week.

 

I know for sure my husband and son do. And my son watches MUCH less TV than many people we know.

 

My daughter watches most of her stuff online, so it's a little muddier. (That's some TV shows, but also a fair amount of YouTube bloggers and such.) I'd guess she comes close to that average, though.

 

We don't turn on the TV at all until evening (unless I've assigned something educational). My husband usually turns it on when he gets home, frequently in time for Jeopardy at 7:00. After that, we might watch a couple of episodes of whatever sitcom we're recording or an episode of something hour long from the DVR. Many evenings, after my son goes to bed, my daughter and/or husband and I will watch something else on DVD.

 

So, that's easily four hours, without turning it on until after dinner.

 

We're pretty busy outside the house, too. At least a few evenings a week, one or more of us is home late and doesn't watch anything at all.

 

All of us except my husband are big readers. Both of my kids are active in theatre, and my son takes several dance classes a week.

 

But I'm pretty sure we still average four hours a day.

 

Watching the "national average" doesn't seem to have done us too much harm.

Edited July 15, 2011 by Jenny in Florida

[swellmomma]

I watch a lot of tv, but it is in spurts. We don't have cable so my dad tapes shows I like at his place and watch them when I get the tapes from him. It might mean that every evening for a week I watch tv and then nothing for 2 weeks. We do use dvd's in our school day (leap frog, sid the science kid, eyewitness or other documentaries), so that adds into the total. We also love to rent movies. It is one of our few "entertainment" purchases etc month. Between all of that I would say it is easy to average out 4 hours a day even if in reality, some days are 0 some are more. kwim.

 

The last week our tv has been on almost non-stop. Hunter has been watching dvd's and vhs tapes from the library almost all day everyday. While he is watching he is playing with blocks, or his cars or colouring etc. He can't go out and play etc like normal because of his leg. Based just on his tv time in the last 10 days it appears we watch 8-10 hours of tv a day but he is not stuck to the screen all that time and we both know it is a temporary thing while he heals.

[Mom-ninja.]

My mom. She easily watches 4+ hours a day. Easy.

[chepyl]

I need the background noise. I can't fold laundry or do dishes in silence. I have the tv or my iPod on most of the day. We turn everything off for school.

[Diana B]

I need the background noise. I can't fold laundry or do dishes in silence. I have the tv or my iPod on most of the day. We turn everything off for school.

 

See, I don't like the silence much either - but we play music or when I'm doing dishes I listen to an audio book.

 

For me, TV is too hard to have in the background. I am significantly slower at what ever I'm doing. Even if I'm folding laundry, I'm spending 3-4x as long doing it when I watch TV.

[PentecostalMom]

We don't have "TV" either. However, I am certain this total includes "screen time" not just precisely actual television viewing. Movies, Netflix, Hulu, and the like are (IMO) included, because that is still "TV".

 

That being said, we have one television in our home in the playroom. It will not work without the remote which I keep in the schoolroom to control access. I am very diligent about what my children watch and how much screen time they get. I would say they average less than an hour per day, some of thet being "education".

 

However, some days "school" is mostly DVD's. I was very sick the first trimester. I read aloud as much as I could, but the frog, spanish DVD's, and Liberty's Kids were watched A LOT. They probably averaged at least four hours a day.

 

Now, not even close to that. I, too, know a lot of people who ask, "What do you do all day with no TV?" Someone even asked me today (while we were getting an oil change and dd was watching cartoons at the repair shop), "Do they play outside?" I was like :confused::confused:? The lady that works in the shop knows we homeschool, and that I have a son that is a hs graduate. I was wondering what she thinks we do for school. :lol:

 

Anyway, just adding our experiences and my two cents!

[jewellsmommy]

I count all movies, netflix, and programing as tv (as all of these are watched on a television). Some days the dc do not watch any tv, like Wednesdays and Thusdays (due to our schedules). Other days they may watch an hour. On the weekends we might watch a movie. There have even been sick days or bad weather days where we watched several movies. I can remember introducing dd to the Anne of Green Gables movies when she had the flu. We watched all of them in one day!

 

Also, even if you watch netflix or movies on a computer, I still think it counts as tv. To me the 'spirit' of the question dictates that this counts, unless specifically asked about how much cable tv you watch or so on. When asked about "screen time" I add anything tv, plus wii time, plus computer time.

[LaxMom]

I'm one who falls asleep with the tv on. It keeps my mind from racing. Rarely, if I'm on an ironing binge or doing a huge cleaning of our bedroom, I might turn it on during the day and watch. I might put something whitefly in the morning. (I watched Miss Marple before the kids were up today, while I was doing dishes and laundry) I still don't come close to 4 hours a week. The kids may or may not watch a movie once a week. They develop behavioral issues with too much screen time.

 

At one time, we had both cable and satellite, and we wondered how we'd manage when we cut the final tie to cable (satellite went years before). Turns out, there's not a whole lot on. We just thought there was because we had a bazillion channels.

 

My in-laws have theirs on constantly. It's not background noise. I think they use it as a buffer to avoid conversation. With anyone.

 

I know one family whose mother would proclaim to anyone and everyone that they didn't have television, in a very condescending tone. Ironically, her kids had a tv/DVD player in their room and a portable for the car, and would watch 8+ hours of Scooby-Doo and Disney Princess movies a day. (They didn't go outside. There was "nature" out there. :blink: )

[Diana B]

 

At one time, we had both cable and satellite, and we wondered how we'd manage when we cut the final tie to cable (satellite went years before). Turns out, there's not a whole lot on. We just thought there was because we had a bazillion channels.

 

 

We have no cable/satellite. When we want to watch a movie or a TV show, we have to hook up one of our computers to the TV and stream it.

 

When we visited my mom over 4th of July, we had an evening that we could watch TV. There was NOTHING on. And we ended up flipping a few times because the commercials DROVE US CRAZY.

 

Yeah, we so don't miss cable. :)

[Wamommy]

I like silence. If I feel the need for noise, I turn on music. We no longer own a television, but we do have Netflix which we watch on our computer. My kids have very little screen time. We are very busy without tv. They all love to read, play sports and games.

[Carpe]

When we had satellite I easily watched four hours everyday, DH watched even more than that. We were both working full time. We did cooking/housework during the commercials or on the weekends. For some reason TV was our destressor of choice.

 

Now we don't have TV (in that we get no channels, the machine is currently a giant monitor) and I'm not working, I get ~1.5 hours of screen time per day and it's all while DH is home. And he easily still gets double that.